Method and system for improving detail information in digital images

ABSTRACT

Various aspects of a method and a system for image processing are disclosed herein. The method includes processing an input image, which comprises structure information and detail information, using image processing (IP) blocks in an image processing pipeline. One or more of the IP blocks, such as the “lossy” IP blocks, process the input image with at least a partial loss of the detail information. By replacing the “lossy” IP blocks with redesigned image processing (IP) modules, the image processing pipeline reduces or avoids such loss of the detail information. A more efficient implementation of the improved pipeline is realized by using a master IP module when the “lossy” IP blocks are reordered and grouped together in the image processing pipeline. The method is further extended to process 3-D images to reduce or avoid loss of detail information in a 3-D image processing pipeline.

FIELD

Various embodiments of the disclosure relate to image processing. Morespecifically, various embodiments of the disclosure relate to processingdetailed information in a digital image.

BACKGROUND

Image quality of digital images may be assessed based on variousaspects, such as brightness, sharpness, noise, chromatic aberration,optical distortion, and/or the like. In recent years, both pixel countsand pixel densities of digital image sensors in the various imagecapturing devices have considerably increased. With such increased pixelcounts and pixel densities, the image capturing devices are now capableto capture digital images with an increased detail information. Suchdigital images, as compared with other images with less detailinformation, are sharper and thus, considered better in terms of imagequality. In the following discussions, we may only refer to digitalcamera as an example of image capturing devices. The similar argumentsshall apply to all image capturing devices, such as cameras, camcorders,smart phones, tablets, scanners, and/or the like.

The digital images may contain both structure information and detailinformation. The structure information may correspond tocoarse-granularity information of the digital images. Examples of thestructure information may include, but are not limited to, contouredges, luminance information, and chrominance information of one or moreobjects in the digital images. The detail information may correspond tofine-granularity information of the digital images. Examples of thedetail information may include, but are not limited to, various texturesof one or more objects in the digital images. For example, when thedigital image is an image of a horse, the structure information maycorrespond to contour edges, luminance information, and chrominance ofthe horse. The detail information may include the textures of the hairstrands and eyelashes of the horse.

Currently, the capability of the modern digital cameras to capture thedigital images with high detail information are determined by variousfactors. Apart from the reduced pixel count and pixel density of one ormore image sensors inside the digital camera, there may also be othercontributing factors, such as optical limitation, motion blur, and/orimage processing inside/outside the digital camera, which may limit thecapability of the digital camera to capture the digital images with highdetail information.

The optical limitation of the digital camera may limit its capability tocapture the digital images with high detail information. Camera lensgenerally work as optical low pass filters and some high frequencydetail information may not pass through the lens and reach the one ormore image sensors. The maximum optical resolution allowed by the cameralens is generally smaller than the resolution of the one or more imagesensors. Many digital cameras are also equipped with an optical low passfilter in front of the one or more image sensors to suppress Moireartifacts, which may be another important source of the opticallimitation.

The motion blur may also affect the capability of the digital camera tocapture the digital images with high detail information. The motion bluris generally caused by camera movements and/or object movements. Whenthe motion blur occurs, the detail information of object inside thedigital image is essentially low-pass filtered before even reaching thecamera lens of the digital camera. Possible solutions to overcome themotion blur may include, but are not limited to, application of opticalstabilization, usage of tripod, and/or reduction of shutter time.

The image processing inside/outside the digital camera may furtheraffect its capability to capture the digital images with high detailinformation. Many image capturing devices, such as the digital cameras,camcorders, and mobile devices, are usually equipped with an imageprocessing unit to convert data from the one or more image sensors tothe digital images. The image processing unit may comprise multiplefunctional blocks and each functional block may perform one of aplurality of image processing functions, known in the art. Examples ofsuch image processing functions may include, but are not limited to,denoising, demosaicing, gamma correction, color space conversion,chromatic aberration correction, optical distortion correction,compression, and/or the like. The functional blocks are generallyarranged in a sequential order such that output of a current block isthe input of the next block. Such image processing units may be referredto as, “the image processing pipeline”.

In certain scenarios, due to implementation of the various functionalblocks in the image processing pipeline, detail information of thedigital images and/or video frames may be degraded. Such a degradationof the image details may not be desirable. In an exemplary scenario, adenoising block may be implemented to suppress noises, such as a thermalnoise, and thereby, improves the image and video quality. While thedenoising block suppress the noises through a technique, such as,“smoothing”, some detail information may be lost during such“smoothing”. In another scenario, a demosaicing block may be implementedto recover full resolution color information, when the color imagingsensors only capture one color per pixel location and rely oninformation of nearby pixels to recover values of other colors. Suchrecovery process may be essentially a “smoothing” process, which mayreduce detail information of the digital images.

Thus, it may be desirable that the image processing pipeline improvesdetail information loss of the digital images. There may be otherfactors, such as pixel count and density of image sensors, opticallimitation, and motion blur, that may affect the image processingpipeline, but are not discussed here.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of described systems with some aspects of the presentdisclosure, as set forth in the remainder of the present application andwith reference to the drawings.

SUMMARY

A method and a system are provided for image processing substantially asshown in, and/or described in connection with, at least one of thefigures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other features and advantages of the present disclosure may beappreciated from a review of the following detailed description of thepresent disclosure, along with the accompanying figures in which likereference numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary image processingdevice in detail, in connection with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an image processing pipeline inan image processing device for processing a two-dimensional (2-D) image,in connection with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an alternative design of an imageprocessing block to reduce or avoid image detail loss if the imageprocessing block is a “lossy” IP block, in accordance with an embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a first exemplary implementationof an improved image processing pipeline, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a reordered version of the imageprocessing pipeline, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a second exemplary implementationof the improved image processing pipeline, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a three-dimensional (3-D) imageprocessing pipeline in an image processing device for processing a 3-Dimage, in connection with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary 3-D image processingmodule in a 3-D image processing pipeline for a 3-D image, in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various implementations may be found in a system and/or a method forimage processing. The following embodiments are described in sufficientdetail to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the disclosedembodiments. It is to be understood that other embodiments would beevident based on the present disclosure, and that system, process, ormechanical changes may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

In the following description, numerous specific details are given toprovide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it may beapparent that the disclosed embodiments may be practiced without thesespecific details. In order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure,some well-known circuits, system configurations, and process steps arenot disclosed in detail.

The drawings showing embodiments of the system are semi-diagrammatic andnot to scale and, particularly, some of the dimensions are for theclarity of presentation and are shown exaggerated in the drawing FIGS.Where multiple embodiments are disclosed and described having somefeatures in common, for clarity and ease of illustration, description,and comprehension thereof, similar and like features one to another willordinarily be described with similar reference numerals.

The terms “block”, “module”, and “master module” referred to herein mayinclude software, hardware, or a combination thereof in the presentdisclosure in accordance with the context in which the term is used. Forexample, the software may be machine code, firmware, embedded code, andapplication software. Also for example, the hardware may be circuitry,processor, computer, integrated circuit, integrated circuit cores, amicroelectromechanical system (MEMS), passive devices, environmentalsensors including temperature sensors, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram 100 illustrating an image processing device102 in detail, in connection with an embodiment of the disclosure. Withreference to FIG. 1, the image processing device 102 may comprise anetwork interface 104, a memory 106, a processor 108, an Input-Output(I/O) device 110, an image signal processing (ISP) hardware unit 112, anISP application unit 114, a bus 118, and a storage device 120.

The image processing device 102 may include one or more image processingfunctions to process digital images and/or videos. The one or more imageprocessing functions may be implemented with hardware, software, or acombination thereof. In accordance with an embodiment, the imageprocessing device 102 may be implemented in computing devices. Examplesof the computing devices may include a personal computer, a laptopcomputer, a computer workstation, a server, a mainframe computer, ahandheld computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular/mobiletelephone, a smart appliance, and a gaming console. Examples of thecomputing devices may further include a cellular phone, a digitalcamera, a digital camcorder, a camera phone, a music player, amultimedia player, a video player, a digital versatile disc (DVD)writer/player, a television, and a home entertainment system. Examplesof the computing devices may further include a point-and-shoot camera, avideo camcorder, a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera, a mirrorless camera,and a camera in a mobile device.

The network interface 104 may include a hardware component, such as anetwork card, based on which the image processing device 102 maycommunicate with external devices. The network interface 104 may beconnected to an Ethernet or other types of local area networks (LAN),such as, Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), wireless LAN,Long-Term Evolution (LTE), third Generation (3G), Enhanced Data ratesfor GSM Evolution (EDGE), and/or the like.

The memory 106 may be operable to store one or more optimizationalgorithms and other image processing algorithms, known in the art.Examples of implementation of the memory 106 may include, but are notlimited to, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), HardDisk Drive (HDD), and/or a Secure Digital (SD) card.

The processor 108 may include a processing unit with a processing speedselected for data control and computation operations of various hardwareunits in the image processing device 102.

The I/O device 110 may include one or more input/output units. The oneor more input/output units may include a keyboard, a mouse, a monitor, adisplay, a printer, a modem, a touchscreen, a button interface, andother such input/output units.

The ISP hardware unit 112 may include one or more hardware units, suchas a circuitry, a processor, an integrated circuit, and/or an integratedcircuit core. The ISP application unit 114 may include software that maycorrespond to machine code, firmware, embedded code, and applicationsoftware. The ISP hardware unit 112 and the ISP application unit 114 mayinclude one or more image processing (IP) blocks. Each IP block mayperform a pre-determined image processing functionality, and may beimplemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof. A pluralityof IP blocks may be arranged in a contiguous manner, such that an outputof a current IP block is an input for next IP block, in an imageprocessing pipeline 116. In accordance with an embodiment, the inputimage of the image processing pipeline 116 may be retrieved from a localimage capture device (not shown), via the bus 118. In anotherembodiment, the input image of the image processing pipeline 116 may bereceived from a remote image capturing device, via the network interface104 and then, via the bus 118.

The bus 118 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/orcode that may be operable to enable a communication between variouscomponents inside the image processing device 102. The storage device120 may include one or more storage units, such as a hard drive, acompact disc read-only memory (CDROM), a compact disc rewritable (CDRW),a digital video disc (DVD), a digital video disc rewritable (DVDRW), anda flash memory card. The storage device 120 and/or the memory 106 may beused to store data processed by one or more of the units, components,and/or IP blocks in the image processing device 102.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 illustrating an image processing pipelinein an image processing device for processing a two-dimensional (2-D)image, in connection with an embodiment of the disclosure. Withreference to FIG. 2, there is shown a 2-D image processing pipeline 116that may process an input image, such as the 2-D image. The 2-D imageprocessing pipeline 116 may comprise a plurality of image processing(IP) blocks, such as IP blocks 202 to 250. Examples of the plurality ofIP blocks may include, but are not limited to, a demosaicing block, anoise reduction block, a gamma correction block, an image sharpeningblock, and a colorspace conversion block. The 2-D image processingpipeline 116 may further include an image compression block and/or animage decompression block to store and/or transmit images. Although forsimplicity, FIG. 2 shows only the IP blocks 202 to 250, one skilled inthe art may appreciate that the 2-D image processing pipeline 116 maycomprise larger number of IP blocks, without deviating from the scope ofthe disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 2, the plurality of IP blocks, such as the IPblocks 202 to 250, may be arranged in a contiguous manner, such that anoutput of a current IP block is an input for next IP block. For example,an output of the IP block 202 may be provided, as an input, to the IPblock 204.

In accordance with an embodiment, one or more of the plurality of IPblocks in the 2-D image processing pipeline 116 may at least suffer frompartial image detail loss for various reasons. In other words, output ofsuch IP blocks may lose certain amount of image details when compared tothe corresponding inputs. Such block(s) may be hereinafter referred toas, “lossy” IP block(s). Further, the IP block(s) that do not sufferfrom such image detail loss, may be hereinafter referred to as,“lossless” IP block(s).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram 300 illustrating an alternative design of theIP block 202 to reduce or avoid image detail loss if the IP block 202 isa “lossy” IP block, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.FIG. 3 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.With reference to FIG. 3, there is shown an image processing (IP) module302 that may replace the IP block 202 in the image processing pipeline116, as shown in FIG. 1. The IP module 302 may be operable to process aninput image and generate an output image. The functionality of the IPmodule 302 is similar to the functionality of the IP block 202 in theimage processing pipeline 116. The IP block 202, as shown in FIG. 3, maybe the same as the IP block 202, as shown in FIG. 2. However, since theIP block 202 in FIG. 3 only processes the structure information of inputimages, a simplified version of the IP block 202 may be alternativelyused in FIG. 3. For simplicity, such a difference is not distinguishedin FIG. 3 and other following FIGS.

Due to the redesign, the IP module 302 may be free from the image detailloss or suffer less from the image detail loss. In order to fulfill thesame functionality, the IP module 302 may comprise the IP block 202. TheIP module 302 may further comprise an image information extractor 304, adetail processing block 306, a component controller 308, and an imagecombiner 310.

The image information extractor 304 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to extract thestructure information and the detail information from the input image.The structure information may correspond to coarse-granularityinformation of the input image. Examples of the structure informationmay include, but are not limited to, a contour edge, luminanceinformation, and/or chrominance information of one or more objects inthe input image. The detail information may correspond tofine-granularity information of the input image. Examples of the detailinformation may include, but are not limited to, various textures of theone or more objects in the input image.

The detail processing block 306 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to process the detailinformation of the input image for optimization. In accordance with anembodiment, the detail processing block 306 may be arranged in aparallel configuration with respect to the IP block 202. In accordancewith an embodiment, the detail processing block 306 may be operable tooptimize the detail information, based on the structure informationprocessed by the IP block 202. The detail processing block 306 may beoperable to generate optimized detail information that may correspond tothe content of the input image.

The component controller 308 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to control one or moreimage characteristics, such as strength and/or frequency, of at least apart of the optimized detail information, which may be processed by thedetail processing block 306.

The image combiner 310 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to combine the output ofthe IP block 202 and the component controller 308, to generate an outputimage for the IP module 302.

In operation, the image information extractor 304 may receive the inputimage from an image source. In accordance with an embodiment, the inputimage may be a two-dimensional (2-D) image. In accordance with anembodiment, the input image may be a three-dimensional (3-D) image.

In accordance with an embodiment, the image information extractor 304may extract the structure information and the detail information fromthe received input image. For example, when the input image is an imageof a horse, the image information extractor 304 may extract thestructure information, such as contour edges, luminance information andchrominance information, from the input image of the horse. The imageinformation extractor 304 may extract fine-granularity detailinformation, such as textures of the hair strands and eyelashes, fromthe input image of the horse.

The image information extractor 304 may be operable to transmit theextracted structure information to the IP block 202. The IP block 202may process the structure information of the input image and generate aprocessed image. The image information extractor 304 may be furtheroperable to transmit the detail information to the detail processingblock 306. The detail processing block 306 may be operable to processthe detail information of the input image. The detail processing block306 may have the same functionality as the corresponding IP block 202but may be optimized to process the detail information. In accordancewith an embodiment, the detail information processed by the detailprocessing block 306 may be based on the structure information that isprocessed by the corresponding IP block 202. For example, the detailprocessing block 306 may process the detail information of the image ofthe horse, based on the contour edge in the input image of the horse.

In accordance with an embodiment, the component controller 308 may beoperable to provide strength and frequency control of the optimizeddetail information processed by the detail processing block 306. Inaccordance with an embodiment, one or more preferences for such strengthand frequency control may be received from the viewer. The one or morepreferences may be based on one or more of content of the input image,configuration information, model information, mode information, and/orcomponent information of the image processing device 102 that comprisesthe image processing pipeline 116. The one or more preferences may bebased on manual input provided by the viewer. In accordance with anembodiment, the one or more preferences for such strength and frequencycontrol may be received from the viewer, via a slider or a knob controlbutton. The slider or the knob control button may be positioned at theimage processing device 102, or on a remote handheld device, wirelesslyconnected or wired to the image processing device 102. For example, theviewer may increase (or decrease) the high frequency parameter of theoptimized detail information processed by the detail processing block306. Consequently, the output image may become sharper than the inputimage. In accordance with an embodiment, the component controller 308may be operable to dynamically set the one or more preferences tocontrol the strength and frequency, based on one or more ambientfactors, such as extreme illumination, extreme darkness, and/or thelike.

The image combiner 310 may be operable to combine the processed imagereceived from the IP block 202 and the optimized detail informationreceived from the detail processing block 306, via the componentcontroller 308. Based on the combination, the image combiner 310 may beoperable to generate the output image. Such an output image may be of abetter quality that may not suffer from image detail loss, or may suffersignificantly less image detail loss, as compared to the output image ofthe IP block 202, as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram 400 illustrating a first exemplaryimplementation of an improved image processing pipeline that may be freefrom the image detail loss or suffer less from the image detail loss, inaccordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4 is explained inconjunction with elements from FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. With reference to theFIG. 4, there is shown the improved image processing pipeline 402. Theimage processing pipeline 116, as shown in FIG. 2, comprises the IPblocks 202 to 250. In accordance with an exemplary scenario, it may beassumed that the IP blocks 202, 220, and 250, may introduce image detailloss while other IP blocks 204 to 218 and 222 to 248, may not introducethe image detail loss. In accordance with such exemplary scenario, theIP blocks 202, 220, and 250, may be hereinafter referred to as, “lossy”IP blocks. Similarly, the other IP blocks 204 to 218 and 222 to 248, maybe hereinafter referred to as, “lossless” IP blocks. The improved imageprocessing pipeline 402 may comprise improved IP modules 302, 320, and350. The improved IP modules 302, 320, and 350 may correspond to the“lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202, 220, and 250,respectively.

Although, in accordance with the exemplary scenario, as shown in FIG. 4,only three “lossy” IP blocks are assumed in the image processingpipeline 116, one skilled in the art may appreciate the image processingpipeline 116 may comprise less/more than three “lossy” IP blocks. Oneskilled in the art may also appreciate the “lossy” IP blocks may belocated at the different locations in the image processing pipeline 116.

With reference to the first exemplary implementation, the functionalityof the IP module 302 in the improved image processing pipeline 402 maybe same as that of the IP block 202 in the image processing pipeline116. The IP module 302 may replace the “lossy” IP block 202 in the imageprocessing pipeline 116. Similarly, the improved IP modules 320 and 350in the improved image processing pipeline 402 may replace thecorresponding “lossy” IP blocks 220 and 250 in the image processingpipeline 116. In accordance with an embodiment, the improved IP modules302, 320 and 350 may be free from the image detail loss, as compared tothe corresponding “lossy” IP blocks 202, 220 and 250 in the imageprocessing pipeline 116. In accordance with an embodiment, the improvedIP modules 302, 320 and 350 may suffer less from the image detail loss,as compared to the corresponding “lossy” IP blocks 202, 220 and 250 inthe image processing pipeline 116.

The improved IP module 302 may comprise the image information extractor304, the IP block 202, the detail processing block 306, the componentcontroller 308, and the image combiner 310. The arrangement andoperation of various components of the IP module 302 have been alreadydescribed in FIG. 3. Similarly, the improved IP module 320 may comprisethe image information extractor 324, the detail processing block 326,the component controller 328, and the image combiner 330 and theimproved IP module 350 may comprise the image information extractor 354,the detail processing block 356, the component controller 358, and theimage combiner 360. The operations and arrangement of various componentsof the IP module 320 and the IP module 350 may be similar to theoperations and arrangement of various components of the IP module 302that has already been described in detail in FIG. 3.

The functionality of the information extractors 324 and 354 may besimilar to the functionality of the image information extractor 304 thathas already been described in detail in FIG. 3. The functionality of thedetail processing blocks 326 and 356 may be similar to the functionalityof the corresponding IP block 220 and 250, respectively, but may beoptimized for processing the detail information of the input image. Theoperation of the detail processing blocks 326 and 356 may be similar tothe operation of the detail processing block 306 that has already beendescribed in detail in FIG. 3. The functionality of the componentcontrollers 328 and 358 may be similar to the functionality of thecomponent controller 308 that has already been described in detail inFIG. 3. The functionality of the image combiners 330 and 360 may besimilar to the functionality of the image combiner 310 that has alreadybeen described in detail in FIG. 3.

In operation, the IP modules 302, 320, and 350, and the “lossless” IPblocks, such as the IP blocks 204 to 218 and 222 to 248, in the improvedimage processing pipeline 402 may be arranged in a sequential order. Theinput image of the improved image processing pipeline 402 may be theinput of the IP module 302. The output of the IP module 302 may be theinput of the “lossless” IP block 204. The output of the “lossless” IPblock 204 may be the input to the next “lossless” IP block 206 (notshown). The same operation may be implemented for subsequent “lossless”IP blocks 208 to 218. The output of the “lossless” IP block 218 may bemay be the input to the IP module 320. The output of the IP module 320via some other “lossless” IP blocks may be the input to the IP block240. The output of the “lossless” IP block 240 via some other “lossless”IP blocks 222 to 248 may be the input to the IP module 350. Finally, theoutput of the IP module 350 may be the output of the improved imageprocessing pipeline 402.

The IP module 302 in the improved image processing pipeline 402 mayreplace the IP block 202 in the image processing pipeline 116, as shownin FIG. 2. Due to the improved design, the output of the IP module 302may be free from the image detail loss or suffer less from the imagedetail loss, as compared to the output of the IP block 202 in the imageprocessing pipeline 116. The IP modules 320 and 350 may be operable in asimilar way such that the corresponding outputs are free from the imagedetail loss or suffer less from the image detail loss, as compared tothe outputs of the “lossy” IP blocks 220 and the IP block 250 in theimage processing pipeline 116. FIG. 4 may only assume the three “lossy”IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202, 220, and 250. After replacing thethree “lossy” IP blocks with the corresponding IP modules 302, 320, and350, respectively, the improved image processing pipeline 402 may befree from the image detail loss or suffer less from image detail loss,as compared to the image processing pipeline 116.

The IP modules 302, 320, and 350 in the improved image processingpipeline 402 may selectively perform targeted optimization of detailinformation processing of the input image. For example, the detailprocessing block 306 may perform targeted optimization of detailinformation processing of the input image whose structure information isprocessed by the IP block 202. Similarly, the detail processing block326 may perform targeted optimization of detail information processingof the input image whose structure information is processed by the IPblock 220. Similarly, the detail processing block 356 may performtargeted optimization of detail information processing of the inputimage whose structure information is processed by the IP block 250. Sucha targeted optimization of detail information processing may beperformed for only “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202, 220,and 250. Other “lossless” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 204 to 218and 222 to 248, may not require such an optimized detail informationprocessing.

The improved image processing pipeline 402 may be free from the imagedetail loss or suffer less from image detail loss, as compared to theimage processing pipeline 116, as shown in FIG. 2. However, the improvedimage processing pipeline 402 may require more hardware and/or softwarefor implementation. For each “lossy” IP block, the improved imageprocessing pipeline 402 may require an image information extractor, adetail processing block, a component controller, and an image combiner.In accordance with an embodiment, the detail processing blocks may varybased on the functionality of the corresponding “lossy” IP blocks whileother components, such as the image information extractors, thecomponent controllers, and the image combiners may share similarimplementations. In accordance with an embodiment, the other componentsmay be shared to achieve a more efficient implementation of the improvedimage processing pipeline 402. More details may be discussed in FIG. 5and FIG. 6.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 illustrating a reordered version of theimage processing pipeline 116 in FIG. 2, in accordance with anembodiment of the disclosure. The reordered image processing pipeline502 may arrange the “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202, 220,and 250, in a sequence as the initial consecutive IP blocks. Although,as shown in FIG. 5, the reordered image processing pipeline 502 has adifferent arrangement (or sequence) of the IP blocks, as compared to theimage processing pipeline 116, as shown in FIG. 2. Notwithstanding, theoutput of the reordered image processing pipeline 502 may be identicalor sufficiently close to the output of the image processing pipeline116. When the “lossy” IP blocks are reordered and grouped together, asshown in FIG. 5, there may be a more efficient implementation availablethan the improved image processing pipeline 402, as shown in FIG. 4.

Although the “lossy” IP blocks are grouped as the initial consecutive IPblocks of the reordered image processing pipeline 502, as shown in FIG.5, one skilled in the art may appreciate that such regrouping may beplaced in the middle or at the back end of the reordered imageprocessing pipeline 502. One skilled in the art may also appreciate thatmultiple groupings may exist in the same pipeline. For example, onegroup of the “lossy” IP blocks may be placed in the middle of thereordered image processing pipeline 502 and another group of the “lossy”IP blocks may be placed at the back end of the same reordered imageprocessing pipeline 502. Under rare situations, no reordering orregrouping of the image processing pipeline 116 may be available. Inthis case, there may not be a more efficient implementation than theimproved image processing pipeline 402.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram 600 illustrating a second implementation ofthe improved image processing pipeline when the image processingpipeline 116 in FIG. 2 is reordered as the reordered image processingpipeline 502 in FIG. 5, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 6 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.2 to 5.

With reference to the FIG. 6, there is shown a further improved imageprocessing pipeline 602 that may comprise a master IP module 604. Themaster IP module 604 may replace the “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IPblocks 202, 220, and 250, in the reordered image processing pipeline502, as shown in FIG. 5. There is further shown a plurality of“lossless” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 204 to 218 and 222 to 248.Based on such replacement, the further improved image processingpipeline 602 may be free from the image detail loss or suffer less fromimage detail loss, as compared to the reordered image processingpipeline 502, as shown in FIG. 5. The master IP module 604 may comprisean image information extractor 606, a component controller 608, and animage combiner 610. The master IP module 604 may further comprise the“lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202, 220, and 250, used in thereordered image processing pipeline 502. The master IP module 604 mayfurther comprise the detail processing blocks 306, 326, and 356, used inthe improved image processing pipeline 402, as shown in FIG. 4.

Each IP module from the IP modules 302, 320, or 350, in the improvedimage processing pipeline 402, as shown in FIG. 4, may comprise aseparate image information extractor. Such image information extractorsmay be similar to each other in terms of functionality andimplementation. Once the image processing pipeline 116 is reordered asthe reordered image processing pipeline 502, as illustrated in FIG. 5,the master IP module 604 may only need a single image informationextractor. Similarly, the master IP module 604 may only need a singlecomponent controller and a single image combiner, instead of three ofeach kind, as in the improved image processing pipeline 402 (as shown inFIG. 4). In accordance with an embodiment, the design and theimplementation of the image information extractor 606, the componentcontroller 608, and the image combiner 610, may be similar to the onesdescribed in FIG. 4. In another embodiment, the design andimplementation of the image information extractor 606, the componentcontroller 608, and the image combiner 610 may be the different from theones described in FIG. 4.

Each IP block from the “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202,220, and 250, in the reordered image processing pipeline 502, may haveits own functionality. To perform the same functionality, the furtherimproved image processing pipeline 602 may reuse the “lossy” IP blocks,such as the IP blocks 202, 220, and 250. Since the “lossy” IP blocks,such as the IP blocks 202, 220, and 250, only deal with the structureinformation of the input images in the further improved image processingpipeline 602, simplified versions of such “lossy” IP blocks may be usedinstead. For simplicity, such differences are not distinguished in FIG.6.

Each of the detail processing blocks 306, 326, and 356, in the furtherimproved image processing pipeline 602 may have the same functionalityas the corresponding “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202, 220,and 250, respectively. However, the detail processing blocks 306, 326,and 356 may be optimized for processing the detail information of theinput images. In other words, the detail processing block 306 maycorrespond to the IP block 202. Similarly, the detail processing block326 may correspond to the IP block 220. Similarly, the detail processingblock 356 may correspond to the IP block 250. The further improved imageprocessing pipeline 602 may reuse the detail processing blocks, 306,326, and 356, to process the detail information of the input images.

With reference to FIG. 6, the “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks202, 220, and 250, may be grouped together as a first set of IP blocksin the master IP module 604. The “lossless” IP blocks, such as the IPblocks 204 to 218 and 222 to 248, may be grouped together as a secondset of IP blocks, and placed out of the master IP module 604 of thefurther improved image processing pipeline 602. In accordance with anembodiment, the master IP module 604 may be inserted at one or morelocations in the further improved image processing pipeline 602. The oneor more locations may be between two adjacent IP blocks, between twonon-adjacent IP blocks, after an IP block, or before an IP block. Thelocation of the master IP module 604 may depend on the particular imageprocessing pipelines. Multiple master IP modules may also be possiblefor some particular image processing pipelines.

In operation, the image information extractor 606 may transmit theextracted structure information from the input image to the “lossy” IPblocks, such as the IP blocks 202, 220, and 250, arranged in asequential order. The image information extractor 606 may furthertransmit the extracted detail information from the input image to thedetail processing blocks 306, 326, and 356 arranged in a sequentialorder. In accordance with an embodiment, the “lossy” IP blocks, such asthe IP blocks 202, 220, and 250, may process the structure informationof the input image. Each of the detail processing blocks 306, 326, and356 may be arranged in a parallel configuration with respect to acorresponding one of the “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 202,220, and 250, respectively. The one or more detail processing blocks306, 326, and 356 may be operable to process the detail informationcorresponding to each of the “lossy” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks202, 220, and 250, and generate optimized detail information.

The component controller 608 may be operable to provide strength andfrequency control of at least a part of the optimized detail informationprocessed by the one or more detail processing blocks 306, 326, and 356.Based on the strength and frequency control of at least a part of theoptimized detail information, the component controller 608 may beoperable to generate optimized detail information based on the contentof input images, the configuration information of image devices, and thepreference of the viewers.

The image combiner 610 may be arranged in such a manner that the imagecombiner 610 may receive the processed structure information from the IPblock 250, and the optimized detail information from the componentcontroller 608. The image combiner 610 may be operable to combine theprocessed structure information received from the “lossy” IP block 250,and the optimized detail information received from the componentcontroller 608, and may generate a modified image. The image combiner610 may be further operable to transmit the modified image to theremaining “lossless” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 204 to 218 and 222to 248, in the further improved image processing pipeline 602.

The remaining “lossless” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 204 to 218 and222 to 248, in the further improved image processing pipeline 602 may beoperable to process the modified image and generate an output image. Theoutput of the master IP module 604 in FIG. 6 may be free from the imagedetail loss or suffer less from the image detail loss, as compared tothe output of the IP block 250 in the reordered image processingpipeline 502, as shown in FIG. 5. In accordance with an embodiment, theremaining “lossless” IP blocks, such as the IP blocks 204 to 218 and 222to 248, in the further improved image processing pipeline 602 mayperform a processing of the input image without introducing detail lossto generate the output image. Therefore, it may be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that the image quality of the output image, generatedby the further improved image processing pipeline 602, in accordancewith the present disclosure, may be superior to the image quality of theoutput image generated by the reordered image processing pipeline 502 ofFIG. 5 as well as the corresponding image processing pipeline beforereordering, such as the image processing pipeline 116 of FIG. 2. Oneskilled in the art may also appreciate the fact that the furtherimproved image processing pipeline 602 may be more efficient than theimproved image processing pipeline 402 in terms of implementation byreducing the numbers of image information extractors, componentcontrollers, and image combiners.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 illustrating a 3-D three-dimensional (3-D)image processing pipeline in an image processing device for processing a3-D image, in connection with an embodiment of the disclosure. Withreference to FIG. 7, there is shown a 3-D image processing pipeline 702that is operable to process a 3-D input image. The 3-D image processingpipeline 702 may comprise a plurality of 3-D IP blocks, such as 3-D IPblocks 704 to 720. Each of the plurality of 3-D IP blocks may furthercomprise a pair of 3-D IP sub-blocks. For example, the 3-D IP block 704may comprise a 3-D IP sub-block 704 a and another 3-D IP sub-block 704b. One of the pair of 3-D IP block 704, such as the 3-D IP sub-block 704a, may be operable to process a left-eye input image of the 3-D inputimage. The other of the pair of 3-D IP block 704, such as the 3-D IPsub-block 704 b, may be operable to process a right-eye input image ofthe 3-D input image. In accordance with an embodiment, the pair of 3-DIP blocks may be operable to communicate with each other.

Although for simplicity, FIG. 7 shows only the 3-D IP blocks 704 to 720,one skilled in the art may appreciate that the 3-D image processingpipeline 702 may comprise a larger number of 3-D IP blocks. Withreference to FIG. 7, the plurality of 3-D IP blocks may be arranged in acontiguous manner, such that an output of a current 3-D IP block is aninput for next 3-D IP block.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 illustrating an exemplary 3-D imageprocessing (IP) module in a 3-D image processing pipeline for a 3-Dimage, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 8 isexplained in conjunction with elements from FIG. 3 and FIG. 7. Inaccordance with an embodiment, one or more of the 3-D IP blocks in the3-D image processing pipeline 702 may suffer from image detail loss.Without loss of generality, the 3-D IP block 704 may be assumed tosuffer from image detail loss. The 3-D IP block 704 may comprise a pairof 3-D IP sub-blocks, such as a 3-D IP sub-block 704 a, and another 3-DIP sub-block 704 b. The functionality of the 3-D IP sub-blocks 704 a and704 b may be similar to the functionality of the IP block 202 that hasbeen described in detail in FIG. 3, except for the fact that the 3-D IPsub-blocks 704 a and 704 b process a 3-D image and the IP block 202processes a 2-D image. A new 3-D IP module 804 may be designed toreplace the 3-D IP block 704 in the 3-D image processing pipeline 702 toreduce the image detail loss.

The 3-D IP module 804 may comprise two sets of components, a first setof components for the left-eye input image and a second set ofcomponents for the right-eye input image. The first set of componentsmay comprise a 3-D image information extractor 806 a, a 3-D detailprocessing block 810 a, a 3-D component controller 812 a, and a 3-Dimage combiner 814 a, associated with the 3-D IP sub-block 704 a toprocess the left-eye input image. The second set of components of mayfurther comprise a 3-D image information extractor 806 b, a 3-D detailprocessing block 810 b, a 3-D component controller 812 b, and a 3-Dimage combiner 814 b, associated with the 3-D IP sub-block 704 b toprocess the right-eye input image.

The functionalities of the 3-D image information extractors 806 a and806 b may be similar to the functionality of the image informationextractor 304 that has already been described in detail in FIG. 3. Thefunctionalities of the 3-D detail processing blocks 810 a and 810 b maybe similar to the functionality of the detail processing block 306 thathas already been described in detail in FIG. 3. The functionalities ofthe 3-D component controllers 812 a and 812 b may be similar to thefunctionality of the component controller 308 that has already beendescribed in detail in FIG. 3. The functionalities of the 3-D imagecombiners 814 a and 814 b may be similar to the functionality of theimage combiner 312 that has already been described in detail in FIG. 3.

With reference to FIG. 8, the 3-D image information extractor 806 a mayreceive the left-eye input image of the 3-D input image. The 3-D imageinformation extractor 806 a may be operable to extract the structureinformation and the detail information from the left-eye input image.The 3-D image information extractor 806 a may be operable to transmitthe extracted structure information to the 3-D IP sub-block 704 a, andthe detail information to the 3-D detail processing block 810 a. The 3-DIP sub-block 704 a may be operable to process the structure informationof the left-eye input image received from the 3-D image informationextractor 806 a.

The 3-D detail processing block 810 a may be operable to process thedetail information of the left-eye input image and generate optimizeddetail information that corresponds to the left-eye input image. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the 3-D detail processing block 810 a maybe operable to optimize the detail information of the left-eye inputimage, based on the structure information of the left-eye input imageprocessed by the 3-D IP sub-block 708 a. The 3-D detail processing block810 a may be operable to generate optimized detail information thatcorresponds to the left-eye input image.

In accordance with an embodiment, the 3-D component controller 812 a maybe operable to provide strength and frequency control of at least a partof the optimized detail information of the left-eye input imageprocessed by the 3-D detail processing block 810 a. In accordance withan embodiment, the one or more preferences for such strength andfrequency control may be received from the viewer, via a slider or aknob control button. The slider or the knob control button may bepositioned at the image processing device 102, or on the remote handhelddevice, wired or wirelessly connected to the image processing device102. In accordance with an embodiment, the one or more preferences maycorrespond to the complete left-eye input image. In accordance with anembodiment, the one or more preferences may correspond to at least apart of the left-eye input image. In accordance with an embodiment, the3-D component controller 812 a may be operable to dynamically set one ormore preferences for strength and frequency control based on one or moreambient factors, such as extreme illumination, extreme darkness, and/orthe like.

The 3-D image combiner 814 a may be operable to combine the processedstructure information received from the 3-D IP sub-block 704 a and theoptimized detail information of the left-eye input image received fromthe 3-D component controller 812 a, to generate a left-eye output image.

In accordance with an embodiment, the 3-D IP sub-block 704 b, the 3-Dimage information extractor 806 b, the 3-D detail processing block 810b, the 3-D component controller 812 b, and the 3-D image combiner 814 b,may generate a right-eye output image, in the same manner as describedwith reference to the generation of the left-eye output image in FIG. 8.In accordance with an embodiment, the left-eye input image and theright-eye input image may be processed by the corresponding blocks andcomponents of the processor 108, based on a communication that occursbetween the corresponding blocks and components of the 3-D IP module804. For example, the 3-D detail processing blocks 810 a and 810 b maycommunicate with each other, and the 3-D IP sub-blocks 704 a and 704 bmay communicate with each other. Such a communication may facilitate toenhance the 3-D input image.

The left-eye output image and the right-eye output image may bereconstructed in another manner to generate a 3-D output image.Notwithstanding, the disclosure may not be so limited, and otherarrangement of the various IP blocks and/or components may beimplemented without limiting the scope of the disclosure.

In accordance with an embodiment, one or more 3-D IP blocks in the 3-Dimage processing pipeline 702 that may introduce a partial loss of thedetail information of the left-eye and the right-eye input images,respectively, may be replaced with the corresponding one or more 3-D IPmodules. One of the one or more 3-D IP modules, such as the 3-D IPmodule 804, has been illustrated in FIG. 8. After such replacements, the3-D image processing pipeline 702 may be free from the image detail lossor suffer less from image detail loss.

In accordance with an embodiment, the 3-D image processing pipeline 702may be reordered to group the two or more “lossy” 3-D IP blockstogether. A master 3-D IP module may be designed to replace the group of“lossy” 3-D IP blocks in the reordered 3-D image processing pipeline.The implementation of the master 3-D IP module may be similar to theimplementation of the master IP module 604 that has been illustrated inFIG. 6 for 2-D images. A group of the “lossy” 3-D IP blocks in thereordered version of the 3-D image processing pipeline 702 may bereplaced by a master 3-D IP module in the 3-D image processing pipeline702, to avoid or reduce the loss of the detail information in the 3-Dinput image.

Such a 3-D image processing pipeline 702 that comprises the 3-D IPmodules, instead of the “lossy” 3-D IP blocks, may selectively performtargeted optimization of detail information processing in the 3-D inputimage. Further, the 3-D image processing pipeline 702 may furthercomprise the master 3-D IP module, instead of the separate 3-D IPmodules for multiple contiguous or non-contiguous 3-D IP blocks. Suchmultiple 3-D IP modules and/or the single master 3-D IP module mayselectively perform targeted optimization of detail informationprocessing of the multiple contiguous or non-contiguous 3-D IP blocks inthe 3-D image processing pipeline 702. Such a targeted optimization ofdetail information processing may be performed for only those “lossy”3-D IP blocks. Other “lossless” 3-D IP blocks may not require such anoptimized detail information processing.

The present disclosure may be realized in hardware, in software, or acombination of hardware and software. The present disclosure may berealized in a centralized fashion, in at least one computer system orimaging device, or in a distributed fashion, where different elementsmay be spread across several interconnected computer systems. Thepresent disclosure may be realized in an imaging device. The imageprocessing pipeline in such imaging device may be in hardware, insoftware, or in a combination of hardware and software. The presentdisclosure may also be embedded in a computer program product, whichcomprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methodsdescribed herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able tocarry out these methods. Computer program, in the present context, meansany expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set ofinstructions intended to cause a system having an information processingcapability to perform a particular function either directly, or aftereither or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, codeor notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation ormaterial to the teachings of the present disclosure without departingfrom its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosurenot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that thepresent disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image processing method, comprising: in animage processing device: receiving an input image from an imagingdevice; extracting, by an image extractor, structure information anddetail information from said input image, wherein said detailinformation corresponds to fine-granularity information of said inputimage; processing said extracted structure information, by a first imageprocessing (IP) block of a plurality of IP blocks in an image processingpipeline, to generate first processed structure information; processingsaid first processed structure information, by a second IP block of saidplurality of IP blocks, to generate second processed structureinformation, wherein a first set of IP blocks of said plurality of IPblocks processes said structure information of said input image with atleast a partial loss of said detail information, and wherein said firstset of IP blocks includes said first IP block and said second IP block;processing said extracted detail information by a first detailprocessing block and a second detail processing block of a plurality ofdetail processing blocks in said image processing pipeline, wherein saidextracted detail information is processed by said first detailprocessing block based on said first processed structure information,and wherein said extracted detail information is processed by saidsecond detail processing block based on said second processed structureinformation; receiving a viewer operation through an interface;controlling strength and frequency of at least a portion of saidprocessed detail information based on said viewer operation; andgenerating a first output image, by an image combiner, based on at leastone of said first processed structure information and said processeddetail information by said first detail processing block or said secondprocessed structure information and said processed detail information bysaid second detail processing block, wherein said first output image iswithout said at least partial loss of said detail information.
 2. Theimage processing method according to claim 1, wherein said receivedinput image is a two-dimensional (2-D) image that comprises saidstructure information and said detail information.
 3. The imageprocessing method according to claim 1, further comprising: processingsaid detail information of said input image based on at least oneoptimization algorithm, wherein each detail processing block of saidplurality of detail processing blocks is parallel to a corresponding IPblock of said first set of IP blocks.
 4. The image processing methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: controlling said strength andsaid frequency based on at least one preference of a plurality ofpreferences of a viewer.
 5. The image processing method according toclaim 1, further comprising: controlling said strength and saidfrequency based on at least one ambient factor of a plurality of ambientfactors, wherein said at least one ambient factor comprises at least oneof an illumination value or a darkness value.
 6. The image processingmethod according to claim 1, further comprising: processing said firstoutput image without said at least partial loss of said detailinformation by a second set of IP blocks of said plurality of IP blocks,wherein said second set of IP blocks is in series with said first set ofIP blocks; and generating a second output image based on said processedfirst output image.
 7. The image processing method according to claim 1,further comprising: executing said extraction of said structureinformation and said detail information, said processing of saidextracted structure information and said extracted detail information,and said generation of said first output image, in said image processingpipeline, separately for each IP block of said first set of IP blocks inan IP module.
 8. The image processing method according to claim 1,further comprising: executing said extraction of said structureinformation and said detail information, said processing of saidextracted structure information and said extracted detail information,and said generation of said first output image, in said image processingpipeline, collectively for said first set of IP blocks in a master IPmodule.
 9. The image processing method according to claim 1, whereinsaid plurality of IP blocks are reordered and grouped, into at least oneof said first set of IP blocks or a second set of IP blocks, based on atleast one of a contiguous arrangement or a non-contiguous arrangement ofsaid plurality of IP blocks.
 10. The image processing method accordingto claim 9, wherein said plurality of IP blocks are grouped, into atleast one of said first set of IP blocks or said second set of IPblocks, based on at least one of content of said input image,configuration information of said image processing device, modelinformation of said image processing device, mode information of saidimage processing device, component information of said image processingdevice, or said viewer operation.
 11. The image processing methodaccording to claim 1, wherein said input image is a three-dimensional(3-D) image, and wherein said 3-D image comprises a left-eye input imageand a right-eye input image.
 12. An image processing system, comprising:an image extractor configured to extract structure information anddetail information from an input image, wherein said detail informationcorresponds to fine-granularity information of said input image; aplurality of image processing (IP) blocks in an image processingpipeline, wherein a first IP block of said plurality of IP blocks isconfigured to process said extracted structure information to generatefirst processed structure information, wherein a second IP block of saidplurality of IP blocks is configured to process first processedstructure information to generate second processed structureinformation, wherein a first set of IP blocks of said plurality of IPblocks is configured to process said structure information with at leasta partial loss of said detail information, and wherein said first set ofIP blocks includes said first IP block and said second IP block; aplurality of detail processing blocks in said image processing pipeline,wherein a first detail processing block of said plurality of detailprocessing blocks is configured to process said detail information basedon said first processed structure information, and wherein a seconddetail processing block of said plurality of detail processing blocks isconfigured to process said detail information based on said secondprocessed structure information; an interface configured to receive aviewer operation; a component controller configured to control strengthand frequency of at least a portion of said processed detail informationbased on said viewer operation; and an image combiner configured togenerate an output image based on at least one of said first processedstructure information and said processed detail information by saidfirst detail processing block or said second processed structureinformation and said processed detail information by said second detailprocessing block, wherein said output image is without said at leastpartial loss of said detail information.
 13. The image processing systemaccording to claim 12, wherein each of said plurality of detailprocessing blocks is parallel to a corresponding IP block of said firstset of IP blocks.
 14. The image processing system according to claim 12,wherein each detail processing block of said plurality of detailprocessing blocks is configured to process said detail information basedon at least one optimization algorithm.
 15. The image processing systemaccording to claim 12, wherein said component controller is furtherconfigured to control said strength and said frequency based on at leastone preference of a plurality of preferences of a viewer.
 16. The imageprocessing system according to claim 12, wherein said componentcontroller is further configured to control said strength and saidfrequency based on at least one ambient factor of a plurality of ambientfactors, and wherein said at least one ambient factor comprises at leastone of an illumination value or a darkness value.
 17. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by a computer cause said computer toexecute operations, said operations comprising: receiving an input imagefrom an imaging device; extracting, by an image extractor, structureinformation and detail information from said input image, wherein saiddetail information corresponds to fine-granularity information of saidinput image; processing said extracted structure information, by a firstimage processing (IP) block of a plurality of IP blocks in an imageprocessing pipeline, to generate first processed structure information;processing said first processed structure information, by a second IPblock of said plurality of IP blocks, to generate second processedstructure information, wherein a first set of IP blocks of saidplurality of IP blocks processes said structure information of saidinput image with at least a partial loss of said detail information, andwherein said first set of IP blocks includes said first IP block andsaid second IP block; processing said extracted detail information by afirst detail processing block and a second detail processing block of aplurality of detail processing blocks in said image processing pipeline,wherein said extracted detail information is processed by said firstdetail processing block based on said first processed structureinformation, and wherein said extracted detail information is processedby said second detail processing block based on said second processedstructure information; receiving a viewer operation through aninterface; controlling strength and frequency of at least a portion ofsaid processed detail information based on said viewer operation; andgenerating a first output image, by an image combiner, based on at leastone of said first processed structure information and said processeddetail information by said first detail processing block or said secondprocessed structure information and said processed detail information bysaid second detail processing block, wherein said first output image iswithout said at least partial loss of said detail information.
 18. Theimage processing method according to claim 1, wherein said extractedstructure information comprises a contour edge of at least one object insaid input image.
 19. The image processing method according to claim 18,further comprising: processing said extracted detail information basedon said contour edge.